House Communications and Technology Subcommittee to Continue Jobs-Focused Agenda in 113th Congress

House Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) previewed some of the subcommittee’s 2013-2014 agenda during a keynote speech delivered at a forum hosted by the Villanova School of Business in Washington, D.C. Chairman Walden announced the subcommittee will continue to consider policies that foster innovation, encourage investment, and protect freedom through a job-focused lens.

Chairman Walden said, “Our economy still struggles with the worst recovery since the Great Depression. It may fall even further in the face of tax hike talks, runaway spending, and the fiscal cliff. There are bright spots in the economy though, including the communications sector. The industry continues to grow, to innovate, and to invest. While the industry continues to grow, it cannot sustain this kind of investment if we continue to regulate voice, video, audio, and data services under a regime that pretends we still live in an analog world run by three networks and one phone company. We need to eliminate outdated regulations to meet the promises and challenges of the Internet era. We need to harness the free market to promote investment, encourage innovation, and create jobs. And we certainly don’t need to shackle new services with old rules.” He said the Subcommittee will o conduct oversight to ensure FCC implementation of the Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum (JOBS) Act and the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act does not pick winners and losers by allocating large swaths of spectrum to favored constituencies for free thus shorting the supply of spectrum that is badly needed to meet the rising consumer demand for mobile broadband and leave public safety hanging by depriving it of the funding it needs to build out a public safety network.

In addition to continuing the efforts begun in the 112th Congress, Chairman Walden noted that the subcommittee must reauthorize satellite operators’ authority to carry broadcast television. Hearings surrounding the reauthorization will likely elicit debate about revisiting the 1992 Cable Act and 1996 Telecommunications Act, and Walden noted that the question of whether any reforms to those Acts would come in the context of the satellite television reauthorization remains to be seen. Chairman Walden concluded, “All in all, next Congress looks to be an exciting one for the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, as well as one of critical importance for our economy. I look forward to working on my panel with both parties to promote innovations, create jobs, and get our economy going again.”